World News – UK – Ryanair orders 75 more Boeing 737 Max before returning to Europe

Europe’s largest low-cost airline plans to get even bigger – by repeating its trick of ordering dozens of new planes when nobody else is buying.

Ryanair, already the leading European customer for the troubled Boeing 737 Max, has ordered 75 more jets – at less than half the list price of 125 million. USD (94 million. GBP) per aircraft.

The airline had already ordered 135 aircraft that had not yet been delivered. This order has now been increased to 210, bringing the total order value to 22 billion. USD (16 GBP) increased. 3 billion. )

Ryanair and Boeing have stated that they have agreed to compensate for the direct costs the airline incurs due to the late delivery for the existing order.

Part of this compensation is said to have gone into lowering the price of the aircraft, which Ryanair « encouraged » to increase its order.

All aircraft will be delivered over a period of four years between spring 2021 and December 2024.

Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, said: « We hope to have at least 50 of these aircraft delivered by 2021, provided Boeing gets its production capacity back to deliver them. « .

« As long as the Covid-19 pandemic suppresses air traffic, we will use these new aircraft to replace part of our older Boeing NG fleet, which will remain on the ground until demand returns before Covid.

« However, once the Covid-19 virus recedes – and it will do so with the launch of several effective vaccines in 2021 – Ryanair and our partner airports across Europe will use these environmentally friendly aircraft to quickly restore and restore lost traffic and flight schedules the nations of Europe to regain their tourism industries and get young people back to work in the EU’s cities, beaches and ski areas. ”

But many passengers have expressed doubts about the plane, which remains on the ground after two fatal crashes.

The Boeing 737 Max was banned from carrying passengers around the world in March 2019 after two fatal accidents resulted from a new anti-stall system.

In October 2018, 189 people died on board a Lion Air 737 Max when it crashed into the Java Sea shortly after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia.

Five months later, an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in similar circumstances as pilots struggled to overcome software that was holding down the aircraft’s nose. All 157 passengers and crew members died.

Both accidents were caused by a new flight control system activated by a single faulty sensor.

Boeing has modified the system and made additional security improvements over the past 20 months. The 737 Max has been cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European regulator has stated that it will soon be cleared for takeoff.

In contrast to Tui and Norwegian, who operated the Max before landing, Ryanair still has to pick up one of the 135 aircraft it has on firm order.

But the airline intends to fly the latest version of the 737 from summer 2021 – and plans to expand it to dozens more aircraft.

The order is a godsend for Boeing at a time when the aviation industry is in its deepest crisis and the company has suffered serious reputational and financial damage as a result of the tragedies.

At an aviation conference last month, Michael O’Leary, Managing Director of Ryanair, said: “We will be unchallenged in Europe for the next 10 to 20 years. ”

Mr. O’Leary joined Ryanair in 1988 when it was a small and failing airline operating between Ireland and the UK. He is credited with making it the dominant force in European low-cost aviation.

After the attacks of Sept.. In September he ordered 100 Boeing 737-800s with options for 50 more. It was the world’s largest aircraft order from 2001.

Ryanair is the safest airline in the world measured by the number of passengers flown without fatalities. In a one-hour Twitter poll by The Independent, nearly three-quarters of the 1. 062 self-elected voters that they would not like to get on board.

American Airlines is expected to be the first airline to restart the jet. It is planned to take place on 29. December to fly between Miami and New York’s La Guardia Airport.

This week the airline is offering five « flights to nowhere » for employees at both airports and at its main location in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.

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Boeing 737 MAX, Ryanair, American Airlines